I love reading. A funny thing happened when I was young. Because of my diagnosis of ADHD in the 80’s and a general misunderstanding of what ADHD was, I was lumped educationally with children who often had more severe learning disabilities. Because of this, I had to go to special reading and math classes for almost all of my childhood educational career. In 86 or so, from what I can deduce from research I did in college, I scored particularly... Read more
I was listening to Pete Enns and Jared Byas’ Podcast recently and they interviewed David Dark on impact of doubt on faith development. There were so many great points, that I wanted to comment on this podcast from the contemplative lens that I see the world through. Doubting Thomas Let us consider Thomas from the Gospels. If you remember, after Jesus’ death, the followers that were left experience several mystical presentations of Jesus. When they informed Thomas of their... Read more
How can the historical Jesus and the movement he started inform us today? A Historical Context In my world’s religion class, I spend a whole section of our time together looking at religion and politics. The question I ask my students to consider is this: “Does religion cause violence?” To put things in context, let’s look at the Palestinian situation from Jesus’ perspective. Palestine in Jesus’ day was part of the Roman Empire, which controlled its various territories in several... Read more
Before I begin, a disclaimer … I am a trained Christian pastor, an Oblate with the Benedictine order, with a heavy focus on peace and justice. I am an outpatient mental health therapist with a therapeutic focus on trauma and education; I am opposed to violence for the sake of violence. My views in this post are as objective as I can make them. They do not reflect one political party or another. I am a Christian who leans heavily... Read more
Questing takes all shapes and forms. This last weekend, I took my wife and daughter on a 127-mile bike backing trip. We have been preparing for weeks, starting with small, twenty-mile rides and two weekends ago, completing a fifty – three-mile ride. I am a huge fan of doing hard things and I have written on both doing hard things and the spiritual practice of questing. Questing Three Days On The Appalachian Trail and Questing Going into the weekend, I... Read more
What is a True Self I have been thinking about one’s true self lately. The contemplative teachers Richard Rohr and Joan Chittester have both devoted recent posts and meditations on this topic. Chittester has devoted the whole month of July to this topic in her Monastic Way ( https://joanchittister.org/content/newsletters/monastic-way/current-issue ) I recently wrote a post around Thich Nhat Hahn’s book “Peace with Every Step” ( https://www.patheos.com/blogs/loveopensdoors/2024/07/is-peace-achievable-in-todays-society/ ). Returning briefly back to this book, I want to reflect on Hahn’s thoughts... Read more
A Definition As we continue to blur the lines of right and wrong, it is important to return to the basics and explore the ancient, historical origins of concepts of morality, virtue and even personhood. In this post, I want to explore how we have moved from an ancient, objective perspective of virtue to a subjective, often agenda-based ideology of virtue. Plato and Aristotle are Western pioneers of this school of thought and in the East, we find Confucius... Read more
Is Peace Achievable? There is a lot of talk these days (or every day since time immortal) about all the chaos we are observing. Some would go as far as saying this is the worst it has ever been. I strongly disagree. I am sitting with Thich Nhat Hahn’s 1991 book, “Peace is Every Step” this week and contemplating and meditating about peace. This would be one of the first books I read from him when I was in college,... Read more
Emotional Openness While men and women both struggle with emotional openness, men more often are stereotyped as such, and women are often pathologized. The emotional landscapes and conditioning of men and women can be quite different, often influenced by societal norms and expectations. From my side of the chair, I have found that many men have a harder time being emotionally open due to a variety of reasons: Societal Conditioning: Traditionally, many cultures have conditioned men to view emotional vulnerability as... Read more
Are the teachings and ruminations of John Wesley relevant to today’s society? They were thought of over 200 years ago. How is 18th Century England and Europe like 21st century America and Europe? What can we learn from these old teachings? I came to the United Methodist Church in 1997 to pursue ministry and would attend seminary in 2001 – 2004 to be trained as a minister. While I have not always agreed with the UMC, I still believe in... Read more
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